Avinash Azad
Two Jammu and Kashmir Special Police Officers (SPOs) were found dead with bullet injuries in Kishtwar on Thursday, hours after three CRPF personnel were injured in a firing attack at a security checkpoint in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The back-to-back incidents have intensified security operations across the region.
The deceased SPOs were identified as Rashpal Kumar and Babi Chand, both attached to the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and posted at Kiyar village in the Dachhan area. They went missing on Wednesday while travelling from their camp towards an Army post at Dharna-Marwah.
Their bullet-riddled bodies were recovered early Thursday during a joint search operation involving police, the Army and the CRPF. Officials said the personnel’s service weapons were missing, a detail that investigators are treating as central to establishing the sequence of events.
Reports said gunshots were heard in the forest area around the time the two officers disappeared, while mobile connectivity in parts of Marwah was disrupted. Authorities have not yet publicly confirmed who carried out the killings, and officials have cautioned against prematurely attributing the incident to militants.
In Kulgam, unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at a CRPF checkpoint in the Akhran area near Mir Bazar on Wednesday afternoon. Three CRPF personnel sustained injuries; their condition was reported as stable, and forensic teams later collected evidence from the site. Security forces launched searches in and around the attack site as investigators examined the circumstances and sought to identify the attackers.
The twin incidents have heightened concern across Jammu and Kashmir, particularly because they occurred in separate divisions—Kishtwar in the Chenab valley and Kulgam in South Kashmir—within roughly 24 hours. Security agencies have intensified cordon-and-search operations, while investigators are working to trace the missing weapons and establish whether the two cases are linked.
Officials have urged residents to rely on verified updates as the investigations continue. No group had been officially identified as responsible for either incident at the time of reporting.
